Amato leaving First Coast News

Phil Amato, anchor of two morning shows at First Coast News, has left the station.

Eric Land, president and general manager of First Coast News on WJXX TV-25 and WTLV TV-12, would say only that Amato resigned on Monday. Although Amato had been on the air in the past week, Land said that Amato was not on the air during several newscasts last week.

Amato co-anchored “First Coast News” at 4 a.m. on WTLV and “Good Morning Jacksonville Sunrise” at 5 a.m. and “Good Morning Jacksonville” at 6 a.m. on both stations. At one point, he returned to co-anchor the 5:30 p.m. newscast as well but was not doing the afternoon newscast any more.

Land would not give a reason for Amato’s resignation, only that he thanked him for his service to the station and wished him well. He said no decision has been made about filling Amato’s place on the show, but Andrew Capasso and Lewis Turner had been filling in temporarily.

Amato had been with the station since 1993, having worked in Idaho and Montana before that.

It’s been a busy two months for local television newsrooms.

In late May, Action News informed anchors Mark Spain, Paige Kelton, Tera Barz, Mike Barz and Lynnsey Gardner that their contracts will not be renewed. Neither the stations nor their owner Cox Media Group would comment on the reason.

Two weeks ago, Cox announced that John Bachman of WSB TV in Atlanta is joining the Action News team.

He will co-anchor the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts on WTEV TV-47 and the 10 p.m. news on WAWS TV-30.